Back To The Beginning
by JustMeSakura
Summary: Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Yusuke had never died the first time?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Also, I got the idea for this story from Animorphs, tho it's not really the same.  
  
Yusuke Urameshi slowly walked down the street, cursing his teachers under his breath. He was once again ditching school, though this time he was technically kicked out. Surprisingly, this time he hadn't done anything...  
  
As he walked, he spotted a small kid playing with a ball. The ball rolled over to him, and he amused the kid by making faces. After warning the boy to stay out of the street, he started to leave. But the boy didn't heed his warning, going after his toy which had gotten away from him. Just at that moment, a car came speeding toward him. Yusuke was about to dive and push the kid out of the way, but suddenly he was eating pavement.  
  
"What the-"  
  
"Oh, sorry man. Didn't see ya." Yusuke looked up to see a boy about his age standing there. He had black, stringy hair that was hanging in his face, and blue eyes... but, they seemed devoid of all emotion. They were so cold, it even sent chills down Yusuke's spine. Yusuke had apparently tripped over the boy's foot.  
  
"YOU SON OF A -----! WATCH WHERE YOU PUT YOUR FREAKIN FEET WHY DONCHA????" Yusuke yelled, ticked.  
  
"Sure dude." And the guy walked off. Yusuke was still steaming, but then he remember the kid. He quickly glanced, to see the kid wasn't hurt at all. Yusuke shrugged and continued his walk down the street.  
  
"Koenma sir!"  
  
"What is it Botan? I'm very busy!"  
  
"I'm sorry Koenma, but this is urgent. Three demons have stolen Artifacts of Darkness!"  
  
"Then what are you waiting for??? Send someone to get them back!!!"  
  
"Who sir?"  
  
"I don't know!"  
  
"Oh dear..."  
  
In a clearing in a forest, the thieves were discussing their plans. One with long red hair turned to leave.  
  
"Where do you think you're going Kurama?" One of the others asked. His black hair stood straight up, his red eyes showed no emotion.  
  
"I'm sorry Hiei, but I have very important matters to attend to." The tall boy turned to look back at his companion, green eyes not wavering. Hiei opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off.  
  
"Hmph... just as I knew you would be..."  
  
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Hiei called to the trees.  
  
"So pushy Hiei. Why would you want your death to come sooner?"  
  
"Hn. Your words mean nothing."  
  
"Then I'll just have to show you!" Hiei was standing alert, but was suddenly thrown into a nearby tree. The tree fell over, and Hiei fell to the ground umoving. Kurama looked worriedly at Hiei, but didn't dare move.  
  
"What the-"That's all the third member of the party got out, before he fell to the ground in halves. Kurama tried to sense the energy of their mysterious attacker, but came up with nothing. Then he felt a large pain in the back of his head.  
  
"Who... are you?" He asked, sinking to the ground.  
  
"No one of consequence... yet..." Was all Kurama heard as he slipped into blackness.  
  
"Things have been going crazy all over the world. Monster like creatures have been appearing. The skies have been overrun by clouds, making it seem like night, even in the middle of the day. Though we still have no information on what has caused this sudden turn of events, all the monsters seem to be somehow organized in their pandemonium. Through out all of the world, one name is mentioned...Omaku." 


	2. Chapter 2

Kurama slowly trudged down an abandoned street. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going. He just walked. His life seemed to have no meaning anymore... he'd lost everything important to him. His human mother had died. His "friend" Hiei had seemingly disappeared after the mysterious demon had stolen the Artifacts of Darkness from them. He couldn't even return to Makai to live his life as Youko. Omaku had seen to that... he'd seen to a lot of things... such as keeping "treacherous demons" such as Kurama under control with his obedience collars. The collar that now resided on Kurama's neck kept him from using any of his demonic powers. So basically, Kurama had lost all purpose for his life.

As Kurama continued to trudge, hand deep within the pockets of his jacket, he heard a scream. He jerked his head toward where he thought the scream had emanated. There he saw a small girl, she didn't seem more than seven, was being chased by a rather large demon. Springing into action, Kurama dived and grabbed the child, just as she was about to be torn apart by the demon's rather vicious looking claws, which tore into the already crumbling pavement of the street instead.

"------! Who are you that takes my supper from me?" the demon growled at Kurama, who was now standing some feet away, holding the girl. Kurama realized that the demon before him was none other then Byakko, the second of the once feared Saint Beasts.

"My name is of no consequence. But I will not let you devour this girl." Kurama replied calmly.

"So you wish to take her place do you? So be it. You will be much more satisfying then that scrawny excuse anyway." With that said, the Byakko powered up for an attack. Before Kurama could react, the demon opened it's ugly mouth and shot a ball of fire at the duo. All Kurama could do was to crouch down and shield the girl as best he could. But the pain he waited for never came. Kurama looked up to see someone blocking the attack. On further inspection, the someone appeared to be a young woman wearing some type of black cloak. She had erected a shield of energy before her that was currently holding back the fire.

"What are you doing you moron! MOVE!" Kurama's trance was broken by his savior's words, and he immediately jumped out of the way. The girl was then thrown backwards by the force. She did a backflip in the air, and landed on her feet. Unfortunately, the force of Byakko's attack still pushed her back wards, so she ended up skidding away from them leaving two long trenches in her wake. When she stopped, she was crouched forward, her hand on the ground for balance.

"Grr... stupid girl... it appears you wish to be added to my menu to." Byakko scowled at being interrupted once more.

"Tch... as if..." The girl replied. She charged up energy and unleashed it at Byakko. "SPIRIT GUN!" the force of her attack now threw Byakko backwards, momentarily stunning the tiger. The girl then swung her gaze to Kurama and the child he still held. "What is it with you and just standing there?!? Come on!" She motioned to him and took off running. All Kurama could do was follow.

"Who are you?" Kurama questioned the girl when they had stopped their flight.

"My name is Maleah." The girl replied, seemingly unphased by the length of their run. He brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. Blue eyes stood out against her tan skin, and freckles sprinkle her nose. The black cloak she wore hid any figure she might have. If she had the hood up, she could be mistaken for a man... which Kurama expected was her intention. She couldn't be called beautiful, but she wasn't horrid either.

"Unique little girl?"

"My mother's choice."

"Ah, I see. My name is Kurama."

"A pleasure." Maleah stated, rolling her eyes.

"Thank you very much for saving us."

"Hrmph... you should have saved yourself."

"Yes, that would seem the preferred choice." Kurama smiled, the first smile in a long time. Yuriko glared at him, then looked at the small girl in his arms.

"An what's your name?" She asked, gaze softening.

"Nimshi." The child said tentatively. Her black hair was cut short to her chin, but was none the less frazzled. Dirt smudged her pale skin, making her blue eyes, which were a lighter shade then Maleah's, stand out. She was very thin, and her clothes were much to big on her, also dirty. She was the poster child for the way people lived these days.

"Well Nimshi, would you like to go to a safe place?" Nimshi nodded ferociously and squirmed out of Kurama's arms. This brought Maleah's attention back to Kurama. "Your welcome to come as well."

"Thank you for the offer, but I shall continue on alone."

"Fine then," Then Maleah spotted the obedience collar, "Would you like that off?" She inquired, gesturing at it.

"Can you do that?" She shrugged.

"Kneel down." She commanded, and he obliged. After a moment, the collar came free. Kurama rubbed his neck appreciatively.

"Once again, thank you." At this she shrugged once more, and took Nimshi's hand.

"Wait please." Nimshi asked. Then she ran up to Kurama and tugged his hand. He kneeled down to her eye level, and she kissed his cheek. "Thank you." She said softly, then ran back to Maleah. Then Maleah held the pendant, which she had produced from under her cloak, that hung around her neck, with one hand, and Nimshi's hand with the other. They were enveloped in a bright light, and when it faded, the two girls were gone.

Sakura: Hi all! Sorry for the late update... my life actually got busy... O.O... anyway, the reason I'm down here babbling is to thank my friend Silly, aka Sillyningengirl, for all her help. She gives me great sites, and has helped me with everything basically. So... THANK YOU! Oh, and for the rest of you, go read her stories, they're good.

Okay, I fixed this chapter... ya see, I was originally gonna call her Yuriko, then I changed it... thank you ShadedRogue for pointing it out! and don't worry, you'll see the others all in good time...


	3. Chapter 3

"Kuwabara, lift!"

"I am lifting Urameshi!"

"Yeah right, then why am I doin most of the work?"

"You two! Stop fighting and get back to work!" CRACK! Yusuke flinched as the back of his leg was struck with a whip. Mumbling curses under his breath, he helped Kuwabara carry a box to a boat. Life hadn't been easy for humans since the reign of Omaku had begun. As far as Yusuke knew, all had either become slaves or been killed... though he had heard a rumor of a rebel group fighting for freedom, but he didn't know if this was true or just wishful thinking.

"Hurry up!" The voice of their task master rose up again. As the whip seared Yusuke's skin a second time, he began to let his temper get the best of him.

"Yusuke, cool it." Kuwabara warned as Yusuke was about to give the jerk a piece of his mind. To talk back to an overseer meant certain death.

"Yeah yeah, let's just get this dumb thing loaded." This was the daily schedule for these two. Wake early, a hearty meal of whatever slop could be found, work until night fall, more slop, then an uncomfortable night spent on the ground with a blanket the only protection against the weather. Sadly to say, it seems as none of our heroes has been having it easy.

"Urameshi, you really need to learn to control your temper. You could have gotten us killed back there."

"Hrmph... sometimes I think bein dead would be better than this..."

"Urameshi! Don't think like that!"

"Well how am I supposed to think, huh? We get treated like yesterday's garbage all day, then have to get up and do it again the next day! What kind of life is that?"

"A lot better than none at all!"

"I'm not so sure..." Before Kuwabara had a chance to answer, Yusuke dropped his side of the box and left.

"If even Yusuke is giving up, is there really no hope left?"

"Lord Koenma!"

"What is it Botan?"

"The situation in the human and demon worlds is worsening, sir. What can we do?"

"I'm not sure there is anything we can do..."

"Sir..."

"Botan, have all portals to Spirit World sealed off. Under no circumstances can Omaku be allowed to spread his domination here."

"Sir!"

"Do as I say Botan! There's nothing we can do for either of the other worlds now... we can only protect what we still have..."

"... yes sir..."

"Now I'm sure it's around here somewhere..." Kurama looked thoughtfully around him. "If I've correctly assembled what I know, she should be around here somewhere..." He parted some bushes, searching. He'd heard talk that a powerful psychic still existed free from the demons somewhere. He'd been collecting clues for a long time, and it seemed as if he'd finally cracked the case... however, he was having trouble finding the doorway to her hideout. If she was as powerful as was said, she would have hidden it with spells to make it even harder to find... but Kurama knew she had to be here somewhere.

"---- --, I don't have time for this..." Kurama stopped his searching and closed his eyes. Focusing as he never had before, he tried to find any speck of spirit energy...

"You're looking for me, I assume." A gravely voice came. Kurama opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the voice. He was surprised at whom he saw, though he didn't show it.

"Only if you are the psychic Genkai." When the old woman didn't answer, Kurama continued forward. "I have heard that you are very powerful."

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear."

"So this is untrue?"

"I didn't say that. I may not be as powerful as I once was, but I'm not feeble by any means."

"Then I have a request for you."

"And who are you, to be making requests?"

"My name is Kurama. I was once a powerful demon, but had to abandon my previous body."

"Ah, the fabled Youko Kurama you are then."

"Yes, I am he."

"And what can I do for the mighty king of thieves?"

"I wish to stay with you." Though Kurama appeared outwardly calm, inside he was holding his breath. Genkai held his gaze for a moment, then nodded.

"Fine. But you won't be slacking. You must earn your keep."

Kurama bowed. "Of course, Master Genkai. Thank you very much." Genkai merely nodded, then turned to leave with Kurama following close behind.

Hi! Oh my gosh, I'm sooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating!!! I know I say this a lot, and I'm sorry for that too. Sadly, evil school has stated again and I have a TON of homework this year!!! T.T. Also, I was sick for a long time, and then I had to play catch up and that made it harder!! I'm hoping I can update more often, but I can't guarantee anything... sigh... stupid school, shouldn't get in the way of my fanfiction...


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